HIGH DEMAND FOR LUMADAN SAGO BUT SAGO PALMS ARE FAST DEPLETING

By Lucia Terey Anak John

BEAUFORT, Nov 25 (Bernama) -- Behind the rows of oil palm plantations that stretch across the Lumadan state constituency, a traditional sago factory continues to operate even though the tide of change is almost drowning out the traditional industry.

Sagu Sedap Enterprise owned by the Rumayah Udal @ Opal family, was established two decades ago in Kampung Indomadi, here and it is now one of the last still faithfully cultivating the heritage of the sago industry in the area.

Despite the increasing demand for sago products, entrepreneurs like Rumayah are facing tough challenges due to the shortage of rumbia trees and the changing agricultural landscape of the local population.

“Previously, Lumadan had between 50 to 100 hectares of rumbia plants, now there are only 12  to 20 hectares left, many have switched to oil palm (planting) because the returns are faster,” Rumayah told Bernama recently.

Rumayah said she started the sago business with a small capital and everything was done manually, from cutting down the sago palm trees, grating the stems to drying the sago and the daily yield at that time was about 300 kilogrammes (kg).

However, everything changed about 10 years ago when she managed to get assistance of RM3,000 from Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) which was later increased in the following years until it enabled Rumayah to buy a basic processing machine.

Since then, production has increased to 20 to 30 sacks a day, making her factory the only one still operating in Kampung Indomadi, although there are about 10 other private sago entrepreneurs around Lumadan.

However, Rumayah said that even though the machine is available, her company is also facing the challenge of a lack of raw material sources, forcing her to obtain supplies from Klias and Kuala Penyu, indirectly increasing the factory's operating costs.

"Each sago stalk is not cheap, we buy it for RM100 to RM150 including the cost of the lorry. The increasing cost is a big pressure, but it has to be borne because the demand for sago continues to soar.

"Imagine around the 1980s, the price of a sack of sago was only RM10, now it has reached RM120," she said, who markets her sago products such as sago crackers and kubal to Brunei, the Peninsula, Sandakan and Tawau.

The decline in the area of ​​sago cultivation has also caught the attention of the Lumadan incumbent assemblyman, Datuk Ruslan Muharam, who is also the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) candidate for the 17th Sabah state election and he is determined to give priority to sago as a main component of improving the people's economy.

He believes that the effort can revive the sago industry chain, open up space for rural women to be involved in the production of downstream products and make Lumadan a potential tourism destination based on sago.

“Previously, Lumadan had between 50 and 100 hectares of sago plantations. Now there are only 20 to 30 acres left. Without replanting efforts, the industry risks being paralysed in the next few years, even though this district (Beaufort) is the only sago producer in Sabah,” he said.

As an initial step, if given the mandate this time, he plans to use the State Assemblyman’s allocation to fund a pilot project to plant rumbia trees in selected villages

“At the same time, I will bring a proposal to the state government level to make Lumadan the centre for replanting rumbia trees in Sabah because without government intervention, small entrepreneurs cannot commercially implement this crop,” he said.

The Lumadan state constituency is located about 110 kilometres from Kota Kinabalu in the parliamentary constituency of Sipitang.

For the latest news on the 17th Sabah polls, please visit https://prn.bernama.com/sabah/index.php.

N34: LUMADAN: SABAH: 22,165

1. Mohammad Norizhuan Awang              (Warisan)

2. Abdul Jarih Okin                                    (KDM)

3. Amit Basrin                                           (STAR)

4. Datuk Ruslan Muharam                       (GRS-PBS)

5. Datuk Mohd Nazri Abdullah                 (BN-UMNO)

6. Jurinah Nasir                                        (PIS)

(2020: Ruslan Muharam: PBS: Maj: 364)

--  BERNAMA